Government to release chana stocks, regulate prices

“We have 27 lakh tonne of chana in our godowns out of the 45 lakh tonne of pulses procure," said an official from Nafed.

New Delhi: Ahead of the festival season, the government is exploring wwhether to release some stock of chana in the market to ease its availability and keep a check on prices.

It is also considering to introduce pulses under the public distribution system for nutritional need of the masses. A decision on this may soon be taken, say officials in the Food ministry. Chana flour is an important ingredient to prepare sweets and namkeen during the festive season. Poor availability of chana since the past one month has kept prices firm at Rs 4,240 per quintal in the Delhi market. In wholesale, chana dal was being quoted at Rs 4,800-5,000 a quintal.

National Agricultural Cooperative Marketing Federation of India (Nafed), the nodal agency for the government’s pulses procurement drive says that it is monitoring the price movement and will soon take a call to release the pulses the demand for which picks up during the festival season.

“We have 27 lakh tonne of chana in our godowns out of the 45 lakh tonne of pulses procured. We are watching the situation on prices and will soon take a call on when and how much to sell,” said an official from Nafed.